Operation Evacuation

64 special Air India flights will bring back 15,000 Indian nationals stuck in UK, UAE and US in what could be the world’s largest evacuation mission

- Poulomi Saha

After the government announced it will be evacuating Indians stranded abroad starting May 7, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, on Tuesday, shared its plan to operate 64 non-scheduled international flights over a week to fly back 14,800 Indians stranded in 12 countries due to the coronavirus lockdown.

As per the mega evacuation plan that India Today TV has accessed, close to 2,000 Indians will be evacuated on a daily basis between May 7 and May 13.

The 12 countries from where Indians will be evacuated include UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the US, UK, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

India, which has been under a lockdown, had banned the arrival of international flights beginning March 23. With the third consecutive extension of lockdown recently, international flights stand suspended till at least till May 17.